Russian/Русский

Every Spring California explodes with clouds of flowers. Fences, houses, sidewalks are taken over by the beautiful bougainvilleas, hydrangeas and other flowers. Right now it is a jacaranda time on our street and it’s gorgeous! I only found out the name of this tree from some person on the street passing by. We couldn’t miss such a great backdrop and did a quick shoot coincidentally on a Mother’s Day.

Alaric was too busy eating the flowers and didn’t want to cooperate at all, he also just learned a new trick of throwing his hands up and pretty much sliding out of the arms so it was pretty difficult to hold him. So today we mostly have some candid shots taken between the moments of baby juggling.

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Mine

Russian/Русский

This Mother’s Day I would like to share my thoughts, memories and stories about my first year of motherhood. Of course, it wouldn’t be possible to fit it all into one post but I thought it would be fun to do it in the format of the alphabet, so here we go.

A – Alaric Alexander. The process of picking the name for our son was challenging. We had so many conditions: it had to be international, sound good in both English and Russian, ideally with some cultural heritage, either Scandinavian or Russian; unique, have a good meaning, yada yada yada, you can pretty much tell it was not an easy task. I heard the name Alaric (pronounced as “ah-LAR-ik”) on the TV show and thought it sounded interesting. The more I researched and played with the idea, the more I liked the name, I think it’s beautiful and unique just like our boy. Since the name Alaric is not a very common, a lot of people seem to get puzzled by it but it’s actually really easy to pronounce once you’ve said it couple of times. At home we call Alaric Rishka.

B – Breastfeeding. I knew from the beginning that this is something I really wanted to commit to. Difficult and painful at first, it was totally worth the trouble, luckily these days there are many helpful tools to aid in breastfeeding, I shared my favorite ones in this post. I really started to enjoy it over time, it was so special, sweet and cozy. I successfully nursed Alaric for a year and we finished shortly after his first birthday, weaning off was totally smooth and stressless for both of us.

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C – Cuteness. There is just an impossible cuteness overload that comes with the new baby. Everything from smiles and giggles to messy cheeks covered in some type of food is just so unbearably cute.

Read More ABC’s of the First Year of Motherhood

Mine

 Russian/Русский

Spinach crepes? You heard it right! Not only is it a great opportunity to have fun in the kitchen but it’s also an easy way to add some healthy greens into your meal. The concept is pretty simple: take spinach, add it to your favorite crepes/pancakes recipe, voila! End of this post. Just kidding:)

I will share the full recipe that I used to make those below. First off, spinach is a perfect green for this because it has very mild flavor on its own which totally disappears when mixed with other things in the recipe and you get to enjoy your favorite sweet breakfast with some extra benefits. Spinach is low in fat and even lower in cholesterol, it’s high in niacin and zinc, as well as protein, fiber, vitamins A, C, E and K, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese, the bottom line – it’s great for you.

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NomNomHome

Russian/Русский

The thing I like the most about LA is variety. Of cultures, people, foods, places… Lake Shrine is so far from its typical LA, it is truly a hidden gem of this city. Located in Pacific Palisades, surrounded by hilly roads it’s not that easy to find at first, but when you finally discover it, you can’t help but wonder how did I not notice it right away?

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Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine includes Meditation Gardens and Lake, a working Temple providing lecture, prayer and meditation services, a Court of Religions honoring the five principal religions of the world, the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial where a portion of Gandhi’s ashes is enshrined, a museum with exhibits on Paramahansa Yogananda’s work, and a gift shop with arts and crafts from India and more. There are also all kinds of events and activities available, such as silent retreats, group meditation, Sunday school for kids and adults. The temple itself is on a hilltop overlooking the lake. I would highly recommend getting more information straight from the source, if you are interested. This post will mostly be a visual journey through the Meditation Gardens and the Lake.

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Visitor Guide comes in handy, for multiple reasons;)
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An authen­tic reproduction of a 16th-century Dutch windmill.

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Golden Lotus Archway. In India the lotus flower is a symbol of divine unfoldment–the awakening of the soul to its infinite potential.

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All Things LA

Russian/Русский

We had so much fun celebrating Alaric’s first birthday! I wasn’t planning to do anything big since he is too little to care so I decided to organize everything myself.

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The original plan was to have the birthday party at the park. I wanted an outdoorsy environment, daylight for the photos and an opportunity to throw the blankie on the grass and let him move around. Well, guess what? Few days before the event I saw the weather forecast and it said it was supposed to rain the day of the party! That’s something you never have to worry about in LA, what are the odds… We had to urgently move the party somewhere else and I had a brief moment of panic but then I found the cafe that could accomodate and everything worked out in the end.

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Read More Alaric’s First Birthday

Mine

Last night I had the pleasure to attend Viva La Muxer event in LA. Viva La Muxer is a celebration of International Women’s Day, an all women art and music festival, and a benefit event for Las Fotos Project, a photography space for teenage girls. This exciting event featured art by 100+ women creatives, live music, performances, resource booths, workshops, dancing, food and drinks, and more! And guess what, I was one of those women creatives! I still can’t believe I did it and I am so glad that I did!

I learned about the event from my friend and after one of our very inspiring and empowering girl hang outs I was like why not? I signed up as an artist, I felt so excited and terrified at the same time. Why did I do that?

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All Things LA

Russian/Русский

My sweet boy just turned one!  Looking back at this year there have definitely been many awesome moments but it is still hard to believe the whole year has passed by.

It is usually not that easy to notice the time but in case with an infant you can practically watch the clock tick.  From a tiny fragile creature it timelapses into an active little person that can move around, smile, talk, express emotions and  show their personality. It is so fascinating! Not to mention that this creature tripled in weight and grew by 8 inches:)

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Mine

Winter ocean has a special place in my heart (as long as it’s not bringing freezing cold air haha). It is so beautiful, powerful, even more so in gloomy weather. I loved being there and watching grey waves crash, it was so soothing and calming, moments like this are everything especially if they are shared with great people. We had friends visiting from Vegas and it was really fun to meet up and show them around the day LA is so different from its usual self.

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All Things LA Mine